Hello Pinside Community,

My family and I are relatively new to the pinball hobby. For the past 18 months we have been flipping quite a lot on location. Luckily we have a few great locations here in Fort Wayne, Indiana to choose from. Currently we are saving our pennies for our first home pinball (hopefully the new Stern Jurassic Park). It is a title that excites my 2 young boys and my wife, and we have been having a blast playing the 2 on location in our city.

In the meantime, I am interested to find out what it would take to build our own rudimentary pinball machine. I do have an engineering degree and experience working with electronics and software coding so a project like this really appeals to me on the surface. I also think it would be a lot of fun as a project for my 2 young boys and I to undertake together.

First off, I am curious what something like this would cost. From an electronics standpoint, I am only thinking of using a pair of flippers, slings, and maybe a few pop bumpers. Everything else on the playfield would just be wood, nails and screws. I honestly wouldn't even really care if the thing has a display or keeps score at first. I think it would just be fun to build something with a plunger, working flippers, and a few targets.

I do not want to underestimate the effort in a project like this. If anyone has experience building their own playfield and cabinet I would love to hear what I should expect to pay for a project like this. Realistically we won't be able to afford a NIB/HUO Jurassic Park pro until next summer so I am hoping this project is something to make that wait more bearable.

Thanks in advance for anyone who can share advice and point me to online resources for a project like this. Could something functional be put together for around $200? Where is the best place to find parts?

Cheers!

Thanks Mark!

Looking down the parts list you referenced and it seems to come out to roughly $150 in electronics hardware to get the flipper assembly up and running. Does that sound right in your experience? Did the class ultimately expand on their design and add in other playfield components?